Penny Ante
Penny Ante, played on the show from 1979 to 2002, was so named because it took pennies to play a game with two grocery items. It involved the contestant having to have at least one penny left at the end of the game in order to win. Gameplay *The contestant was given three oversized pennies at the start of the game. They were then shown a grocery item with four possible prices displayed, only one of which was correct. The contestant had to select the correct price. If they were incorrect, they had to give up one penny. If they were correct, they moved on to a second grocery item played the same way. If, however, the contestant made three mistakes between the two items, they were out of pennies and the game was over. If the contestant guessed the second price correctly and had at least one penny left at the end of the game, they won a large prize. *The gameplay took place on a game board which was split in half vertically to represent the two grocery items. An item sat on each half, with the four possible prices displayed in a row of buttons in front of the contestant, as well as along the back wall of the game board. When a selection was made, the corresponding button was pressed, and a row of illuminated pennies ran up the board to the price on the back wall, which revealed either the word "YES" or "NO" behind it. Earlier Format *The first five playings of Penny Ante used different rules: the possible prices were not divided into two groups for the two grocery items and the goal was to find both prices before the total of the contestant's incorrect guesses reached $1. The total of the incorrect guesses was measured by penny catchers, into which real pennies fell in the amount of the wrong guess and an electronic readout counting the number of pennies that have fallen. The same board was used, but it was not split into green and blue halves as it was under its final format; it had an orange-red-yellow board (similar to the colors of the show's first set from 1972 to 1975); right answers had green "YES!" flaps with an arrow pointing to which item had the right price while wrong answers had a red flap using a picture of a penny, where real pennies would fall out. History *On March 30, 1979 (#3225D), Penny Ante adopted its normal rules and its sports type penny counter was removed; presumably, the first version of its green & blue color scheme also debuted at this point. On December 21, 1984 (#5535D), Penny Ante is believed to have adopted the second version of its green/blue color scheme. *This is one of two games to use the words "Yes" and "No" to refer to correct and incorrect guesses; the other being Triple Play. *Penny Ante's last loss occurred in the the 29th season. In the 30th season, all playings were won, although on two playings that season—October 1, 2001 (#1881K, aired out of order on January 14, 2002) and February 1, 2002 (#2045K)—a "Yes" card flipped when a "No" answer was chosen. *On October 21, 1996 (#0101K), this was the last pricing game to be played before having a perfect show. It all started with contestant Sarah choosing the correct price of the 1st grocery item on the first guess but struggling on the 2nd grocery item: All bleach. Sarah was wrong 2 times in a row, but selected the correct price of $2.53 on the 3rd choice and it was a perfect show. Trivia *The most number of times this game was played in any season was 20. *Penny Ante was the last pricing game to premiere in the 1970s. The Sound Effect *The game was arguably best known for the unusual sound effect which was heard whenever Bob pressed a price button causing penny lights of one section of the board to light up towards the corresponding price and the little door with the price on it opened up to reveal either "yes" or "no". *However, Price wasn't the only show where the sound effect was being heard; it was also used on the following shows: **''Double Dare'' (1976) - The short-lived show when the shutters of the electronic board and player's booths opened. **''Tic Tac Dough'' - when a player buzzed in on a Jump-In question. **''The Joker's Wild'' - when a player pulled a large lever to start the bonus wheels. **''Break the Bank '85'' - when a bank card was inserted to an electronic reader. **''Strike it Rich '86'' - when the arches' arrows lit up during Joe Garagiola's explanation of the rules of the main game. *All of those shows minus the last two aired on CBS (though CBS stations such as WCBS in New York did carry them); the first was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production. *In the later years of the syndicated run of Tic Tac Dough, a different buzzer sound was used. *The sound effect for "Penny Ante" would be recycled for a short while in Vend-O-Price, which premiered 13 years later. Retirement *Penny Ante suffered recurring mechanical problems, in which instances occurred where all shots of the board in action had to be added in post-production because none of the electronics would work. These problems started happening in the 1990s, growing more frequent every year. Sometimes the flap would not open when Barker pressed the button; other times the flap inadvertently opened before Barker pressed the button on the machine. The game was scheduled to be played on October 9, 2002 (#2253K), but it malfunctioned and could not be repaired in a timely manner; Pick-A-Number was eventually played to replace it, and Penny Ante was retired. The staff later decided to reverse its decision and attempt to have the board repaired, but in the intervening days, it had been left outside in the rain and was damaged to the point of being unusable. They then decided to have a new board built for the game, but the plans never got past the design stages and it was finally shelved permanently in April 2007. Having been played for 23 years, it is the third longest-lived pricing game ever to be retired, behind Hit Me (2nd) and Poker Game (1st). *Penny Ante was the last game to be officially retired during Bob Barker's tenure as host; however, Hit Me, which was retired several months earlier, was played a number of times in the four and a half years between Penny Ante's final playing and ultimate retirement. Pictures Penny12.jpg|This is the orange-red-yellow board used in the very early playings. Penny12l2.jpg|Under its original format, this flap indicated a wrong answer that meant that real pennies, not oversized pennies, fell out of these flaps... Penny13l.jpg|...and counted on this display, which continued until the contestant won or collected 100 pennies or more (thus totaling $1.00)... Penny9l.jpg|...this "YES!" flap pointed out that it was the price of the item on the left... Penny7l.jpg|...and this "YES!" flap pointed out that it was the price of the item on the right. Penny Ante 1.jpg|This is the green and blue, light to dark look from the late 70s & early 80s. Penny Ante 2.jpg|This is what the game looked like towards the end of its life. Penny42.jpg|Under its more familiar format using three oversized pennies by which the game continued until winning the game or spending all three pennies, this "NO" flap indicated a wrong answer... Penny72.jpg|...and this "YES" flap indicated a right answer. Tpirpennyante.jpg|a custom drawing of Penny Ante that a fan drew File:Penny.png From April 20, 1982 (#4492D) pennyante (4-20-1982) 1.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 2.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 3.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 4.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 5.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 6.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 7.jpg|First, she selects the $1.67 price. But, she is wrong. pennyante (4-20-1982) 8.jpg|Next, she picks the $1.49 price. She is correct. pennyante (4-20-1982) 9.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 10.jpg pennyante (4-20-1982) 11.jpg|First, she picks the $2.98 price but, she is wrong. She has to get the next one right to win the jukebox. pennyante (4-20-1982) 12.jpg|Next, she picks the $2.69 price. She has lost the game. pennyante (4-20-1982) 13.jpg|The price of the magic cleaner was $3.39. pennyante (4-20-1982) 14.jpg Penny Ante with the Non-Operating Price Flaps (September 28, 1984, #5415D) pennyantemalfunction1984-1.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-2.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-3.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-4.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-5.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-6.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-7.jpg|First, she picks the $3.99 price but is incorrect. The flap will not open. pennyantemalfunction1984-8.jpg|Next, she picks the $4.25 price but is incorrect. The flap will not open either. pennyantemalfunction1984-9.jpg|Finally, she picks the $3.49 price. She is correct, but the flap will not open as well. pennyantemalfunction1984-10.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-11.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-12.jpg|She picks the $1.39 price. She is correct. And, the price flap would not open. pennyantemalfunction1984-13.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-14.jpg pennyantemalfunction1984-15.jpg Penny Ante for a Raydx 6' Satellite Dish and an RCA TV (September 19, 1986, #6185D) pennyantesatellitedishtv1.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv2.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv3.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv4.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv5.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv6.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv7.jpg|He picks the $2.39 price. He is correct. pennyantesatellitedishtv8.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv9.jpg pennyantesatellitedishtv10.jpg|He picks the $3.79 price. He is correct. pennyantesatellitedishtv11.jpg Penny Ante for a Songbird '57 T-Bird Jukebox (September 25, 1991, #8113D) pennyantesongbirdjukebox1.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox2.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox3.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox4.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox5.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox6.jpg|First, she picks the $2.00 price but is incorrect. pennyantesongbirdjukebox7.jpg|Next, she picks the $2.49 price. She is correct. pennyantesongbirdjukebox8.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox9.jpg pennyantesongbirdjukebox10.jpg|She picks the $2.99 price. She is correct. pennyantesongbirdjukebox11.jpg Penny Ante for a Ford Festiva (April 14, 1993, #8783D) pennyantefordfestiva1.jpg pennyantefordfestiva2.jpg pennyantefordfestiva3.jpg pennyantefordfestiva4.jpg pennyantefordfestiva5.jpg pennyantefordfestiva6.jpg pennyantefordfestiva7.jpg|First, she picks the $2.25 price but is incorrect. pennyantefordfestiva8.jpg|Next, she picks the $1.50 price but is incorrect. She has to get the next one right to keep on playing. pennyantefordfestiva9.jpg|Finally, she picks the $1.99 price and fortunately, she is correct. pennyantefordfestiva10.jpg pennyantefordfestiva11.jpg pennyantefordfestiva12.jpg|She picks the $3.19 price but is incorrect. The game is over. pennyantefordfestiva13.jpg|The correct price was $2.89. pennyantefordfestiva14.jpg A Penny Ante Wipeout from Season 25 (February 20, 1997, #0264K) pennyanteseason25wipeout1.jpg pennyanteseason25wipeout2.jpg pennyanteseason25wipeout3.jpg pennyanteseason25wipeout4.jpg pennyanteseason25wipeout5.jpg pennyanteseason25wipeout6.jpg pennyanteseason25wipeout7.jpg|First, he picks the $2.99 price but is incorrect. pennyanteseason25wipeout8.jpg|Next, he picks the $3.75 price but is incorrect. He needs to get the next one right or the game is over. pennyanteseason25wipeout9.jpg|Finally, he picks the $2.00 price but is unfortunately incorrect. Thus, the game is over. pennyanteseason25wipeout10.jpg|The right price was obviously $4.99. pennyanteseason25wipeout11.jpg A Penny Ante Wipeout from Season 26 (October 16, 1997, #0484K) pennyanteseason26wipeout1.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout2.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout3.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout4.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout5.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout6.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout7.jpg pennyanteseason26wipeout8.jpg|First, she picks the $8.50 price but is incorrect. pennyanteseason26wipeout9.jpg|Next, she picks the $10.25 price but is incorrect. She needs to get the next one right or the game is over. pennyanteseason26wipeout10.jpg|Finally, she picks the $7.45 price but is unfortunately incorrect. The game is over. pennyanteseason26wipeout11.jpg|The correct price was obviously $9.99. pennyanteseason26wipeout12.jpg Jordan's Penny Ante Comeback (May 22, 1998, #0785K) pennyantejordan1.jpg pennyantejordan2.jpg pennyantejordan3.jpg pennyantejordan4.jpg pennyantejordan5.jpg pennyantejordan6.jpg pennyantejordan7.jpg pennyantejordan8.jpg|First, he picks the $9.25 price but is incorrect. pennyantejordan9.jpg|Next, he picks the $12.50 price but is incorrect. He needs to get the next one right or the game is over. pennyantejordan10.jpg|Finally, he picks the $11.24 price and fortunately, he is correct. pennyantejordan11.jpg pennyantejordan12.jpg pennyantejordan13.jpg|He picks the $10.66 price. He is correct. pennyantejordan14.jpg Finale Playing (June 14, 2002, #2215K) pennyantefinale1.jpg pennyantefinale2.jpg pennyantefinale3.jpg pennyantefinale4.jpg pennyantefinale5.jpg pennyantefinale6.jpg pennyantefinale7.jpg|He picks the $2.19 price. He is correct. pennyantefinale8.jpg pennyantefinale9.jpg pennyantefinale10.jpg|He picks the $5.99 price. He wins the game! pennyantefinale11.jpg YouTube Videos Penny Ante Win (December 7, 1993, #9002D) Perfect Penny Ante Playing from the late 1990s (January 29, 1999, #0995K) Perfect Penny Ante Playing from 2000 (February 15, 2000, #1362K) Note: Stop the video at 3:40. Penny Ante Win from 2002 (April 3, 2002, #2123K) The final playing of Penny Ante (June 14, 2002, #2215K) Category:Pricing Games Category:Retired Games Category:Grocery Product Games Category:1970s Pricing Games Category:OK to be Wrong Category:A Choice of 4 Category:Make Less Mistakes Category:Must be Correct to Continue Category:You Can Try Again Category:Center Stage Pricing Games Category:Multiple Choice Games Category:Predict the Correct Price Category:Can Be Finished Immediately Category:Instant Winning Pricing Games Category:Short Play Category:Correct Price is Told Category:Easy Winning Pricing Games Category:"P" Pricing Games Category:2-Word Pricing Games Category:January Pricing Games